Ivy's Tale
by marshmallow.wolverine
Summary: A young girl is found with no memory of her life, and is pursued by a relentless duo from her mysterious past. But, the child is not what she appears. Will the X-Men uncover her secrets before it's too late? (Yes. Yes they will.)


…What was going on? Why was it dark? Was she…dead? Just as the ominous word flitted through her mind, another, nearly more frightening alternative hit her; How long had she been there?

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as though they had gained a tremendous weight and lifting them became a monumental effort. Her eyes finally flickered open a few brief times, but her mind resisted against her body due to the harsh, artificial light and they would quickly close again.  
Everything in her view once her eyes finally managed to fully open was foggy at first before the outline of the room became clear.  
"Huh…Her eyes are a pretty shade of purple." She heard a voice say.  
"W-what did you say?" The girl asked, her voice groggy and weak from disuse.  
"It talks!" A young, male voice said, and then paused. "And as for your question, I didn't say anything." He said in an incredulous tone. She turned and came face to face with a boy in his late teens. His curly blond hair lay about his head in a disheveled manner, with the bangs almost covering his ice blue eyes. Under a shock of hair, one eyebrow was raised. He stayed silent for a moment before asking, almost curiously; "What did I say?"  
"You said something about my eyes?" The girl said, wondering if perhaps she had imagined it, the comment coming out sounding more like a question than a statement. She closed her eyes and rubbed them, hoping that they would stop burning. She groaned in agitation, as this simply made her eyes burn all the more.  
After a few moments of fruitless rubbing, the girl decided that it was useless to try to massage away the pain and opened her eyes. The boy was still peering at her strangely from the stool he was sitting on by her bedside.

Cautiously, she sat up, making sure not to do so too quickly in case she was injured, and cast a glance around the white tile room.  
"Where am I?" The girl asked.  
"The Xavier Institute." The boy by her bedside replied simply.  
"How long have I been out?" She inquired apprehensively.  
The blond shrugged. "Two years." He answered with shocking complacency.  
The girl shot up immediately, her eyes widening painfully in shock, as her dark purple hair flew about in front of her face as she tried to jump out of her bed. The boy only chuckled in amusement, putting an arm out to push her back down lightly. "Two weeks." He amended gently.  
That answer didn't help much in the way of calming her down. "Relax." He told her with a wave of his hand. "I'll get Emma." He then walked to the door in front of her bed and poked his head out of it and into what appeared to be a hallway. She didn't see his lips move, but she could clearly hear him shout 'EMMA!' The sound left her ears ringing and she moaned, massaging her temples.

"Why did you shout so loud? She's in the next room." The girl groaned when the boy walked back to her bedside, leaning forwards in a pained expression.  
"How did you..." The boy started, and then cut himself off mid-sentence with a simple "ah". He smiled, a knowing expression plastered all over his face. Never mind her hearing something he hadn't said aloud and knowing where someone she had never met was in a building she had never been in before.  
"You do realize that you don't have to shout?" The girl heard another voice say, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of stiletto heels against tile.  
The girl opened her eyes to a woman dressed in all white. This woman, Emma, was glaring down at the boy with a pair of cold grey eyes. Her platinum blonde hair fell perfectly straight to her shoulders, which were left bare by the pink crop-necked cardigan she was wearing.  
"Ummm…" The boy murmured, a touch of fear in his voice. "This is Emma Frost…She's a telepath…She's going to read your mind." He added as if it were the most normal thing in the world. The girl blinked.

The boy turned to leave, but just as he did, he turned his head around. "I'm Bobby Drake, by the way. What's your name?"  
The girl paused for a while before she felt her heart begin to race. She placed a hand on her mouth nervously. "I…I don't know."  
Emma gave a restrained sigh and sat down in the stool Bobby had been sitting on before. "Well, haven't I got a lot to work with." She murmured sarcastically, in an almost imperceptively quiet voice, rubbing her hands together. The blonde closed her eyes in concentration. "Try to think of something peaceful." She instructed, placing a pale hand on either side of the young girl's head, her manicured red nails just brushing against the skin at the girl's temples. "Close your eyes."  
The tone of Emma's voice was commanding, yet soothing; and the girl did exactly as she was told. However, all of Emma's confidence began to fade once she breeched the girl's mind. It was completely black and barren. Emma knew from experience that the only way that this could have happened was if an extremely powerful telepath wiped out every thought, every precious memory, which ever existed in a person's mind.  
Slightly perturbed, but still hopeful, Emma began to move through the girl's mind with more concentration. Still there was nothing but empty blackness.

Suddenly, Emma felt a force knock into her. She let out a scream as she was thrown from the girl's mind. Her back hit the wall at the other end of the large room, and her body crumpled in a dishevelled heap.  
Three men, whom the girl had never seen before, the boy from earlier, and another girl, one that the amethyst-haired girl surmised was about the same age as Bobby, suddenly burst into the room.  
"What is it, Emma?" One of the men – the one in the strange red goggles – asked. The girl couldn't help but catch the note of restrained worry in his tone inflection.  
"I was…" Emma paused to try and catch her breath. "Thrown out…" Another pause, another deep breath. "Of her mind…"  
The girl watched everyone's heads turn from Emma on one end of the room to her on the other. As the object of their collective attentions, the girl was confused.  
The strange group at the door turned to each other, nodded in unison and eerily muttered two words at the exact same time. "Danger Room."

"This," Bobby explained, "Is the Danger Room." He swung his arms out to his sides to demonstrate just how spacious the room was. The girl's eyes wandered around the room, inspecting the grey metal of the walls before they wound up back at Bobby's face.  
"Umm…" The girl paused, staring at Bobby with curiosity. "Why are you blue?  
Bobby frowned. He wasn't in the mood to explain. And after all, wasn't the answer obvious. His train of thought stopped as he remembered that the girl in front of him didn't even know her own name. 'Give her the cliff-notes version.' He thought.  
"You know how the woman you met earlier could read minds?" Bobby asked. The girl nodded slowly, still trying to take everything she'd experienced in.  
"Well, I can manipulate ice." The blonde paused to see if the girl was still following. She nodded in understanding. "People with powers like us are sometimes called mutants."  
"Am I a mutant?" The girl asked.  
"That's what we're trying to find out." Bobby smiled, shrugging.  
"If I am, do I get to wear a cool outfit like you're wearing?" She looked down at her infirmary cloak, shifting her balance in embarrassment.  
"I guess... If you want to." Bobby replied, giving the girl a nod.  
The girl smiled back, her embarrassment loosening slightly. "So…" She paused. "Now what?"  
"I'm going to throw this snowball at you, and you're going to try to defend yourself." He answered simply, pointing to the snowball in his left hand. The girl nodded, watching as Bobby began to roll the snowball between his hands, packing the snow even more firmly. She threw her arms in front of her face as soon as she saw the snowball leave Bobby's hands. Unfortunately, this did little to help and the snowball sailed straight through the gap in her arm, the snowball hitting her forcefully in the neck. The girl blinked in surprise for a few moments before the shock wore off, as she uttered a few choice words. Bobby grinned.

"It's…cold." She stammered, touching the melting ice falling down her face. Bobby smacked himself in the forehead at the girl's response, the grin leaving his face abruptly.  
'She really has lost everything.' Beast thought to himself as he watched the scene from the control room. "Try again." He said, speaking into the Danger Room's microphone.  
The blonde nodded and turned to look at the little girl, who was trying vainly to search the room for the owner of the voice. Upon giving up, she turned back to Bobby and jumped when she realized what was lying in his hand.  
"Are you ready?" He asked, throwing the snowball up and down in his hand. The small girl nodded, scared. Bobby threw the snowball once more, but this time, he didn't hear the same yelp of surprise that accompanied the first time it hit her.  
Instead, it was stopped by a large force field. Swirling shades of hazy purple filled the Danger Room.

"Well," Beast murmured from the control room, turning to look at Logan, who was standing behind him. "That was a bit excessive, don't you think?" The Canadian nodded absent-mindedly, his fingers strumming the table as he thought.  
Watching the girl's look of happy surprise from behind Beast, Scott turned to the woman next to him. "Emma, were you able to get anything from her before you were thrown out?"  
"No... I don't think so." Emma replied. "It's impossible to get anything from a mind that's been wiped clean by a telepath. This girl here must have had the misfortune of having hers erased by a very powerful and experienced one."  
"Anything?" Scott pressed.  
"Well…" Emma's brows furrowed. "Just before I was thrown out, I caught a glimpse of glowing red eyes. And before you say anything else, yes, that was literally it."  
"Well." Kitty murmured in annoyance. "That narrows it down to pretty much everyone."  
"'Wonder what was so valuable in her mind that they had to erase all of it." Logan said, his voice almost a growl as his brow furrowed, creasing his handsome face.  
Beast gazed at him with a sympathetic frown. He wasn't a telepath, but he had known Logan long enough to realize when his mind was on his past.

Logan didn't see the look Beast had directed at him. He was too busy watching the girl in the room below giggle as she cast small forcefields between her hands. She was completely enthralled with her ability.  
"Psionic energy manipulation." Beast stated suddenly, as if it were the most apparent thing in the world. Logan gave him a strange look. "She's able to compress and manipulate psychic energies. It would explain the telepathy she displayed earlier."  
"I'll try to work with her some more, although I'm not sure I'll get anywhere." Emma stated, standing up.  
"I'll come with you." Scott announced, following Emma's striking form out of the room, like a puppy following it's mistress.  
"Logan?" Beast asked. His friend turned to him, coming back to reality. "Want to help me check missing person's reports? See if we could find the girl?" Logan nodded and left the control room with Beast close behind.  
Kitty watched her team mates go, sighing at the feeling of being left behind once again. She turned back to watching the girl through the glass windows of the control room observatory.  
"I guess that means I'm making lunch." Forge smiled.  
Kitty spun around, locking eyes with the man behind her. He shrugged in an attempt to play off his excitement at the prospect of working with the kitchen's machinery. It was the only set of equipment left in the mansion he hadn't tinkered with. The brunette rolled her eyes.

"Is grilled cheese the only thing you can make, Forge?" Kitty frowned in disgust, thoroughly unamused. She watched nervously as Forge shined a light into the wires in the underside of the stove he had just spent the past hour or so 'working on'. Forge turned around with a hurt frown on his face, but said nothing. Kitty took this to mean 'no', and rolled her eyes. She let an audible sigh out, Forge turned away from her as a tear slipped down his cheek.  
'Note to self;' She mumbled with a sigh. 'Never let Forge do kitchen duty again.' She could see  
grilled cheese becoming highly monotonous after a few days, let alone an entire week.  
Once Forge was satisfied with his work, he rubbed his hands together and forced a happy smile as he began to gather the necessary things for making grilled cheese sandwiches. Or at least, attempt to.

"How can it be that there's no bread in this entire mansion?" He cried in exasperation after minutes of fruitless searching. "Hey, Kitty, can you drive me to the store?"  
Emma leisurely paced up and down the hallway outside of the room they had let the girl stay in.  
"Did you get anything?" Scott asked finally. The blonde just shook her head, a lock of hair falling gently onto her pale face. He brushed it away without thinking, causing her to blush. She cleared her throat before answering.  
"Just the same pair of eyes each time. This last time I was able to hold my own for a short while, but her mind is completely blank. It's like she's shielding her mind from me. It isn't her fault entirely. She's doing it subconsciously from what I believe is fear." Emma suddenly stopped her rant, as well as her pacing. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in realization. "Of course! How could I have been so stupid?"  
"What?" Scott shook himself out of his light stupor.  
"I should be treating her as a telepath instead of a non-psionic mutant," Emma explained, as if Scott could understand her. "I should have been trying to break through her thoughts instead of trying to look through them." She stopped once more, blowing out a breath of air. "Psionics have completely different minds than most other mutants."  
Scott nodded. "Do you think it will work?"  
"I can only hope."

Logan could literally feel minutes tick by as he flipped through missing persons reports. He had to have been at it for multiple hours. He seriously considered ripping apart all of the manila envelopes in front of him with his claws.  
"I think I've got something!" Beast shouted, after what seemed like hours. Logan got up and walked over to where his friend was sitting so that he could see the file.  
It was the girl. It had to be.

The photo attached to the file was of a girl barely a toddler, smiling and waving at the camera, surrounded by many other kids around her age, though she was most certainly the focus. Although the girl in the photo had black hair instead of dark purple and brown eyes instead of violet, it was definitely the same girl that was now just upstairs. She had the same innocent smile.  
"What's her name?" Logan asked, leaning closer.  
Beast lifted up the photo to look at the file behind it.  
'NAME: IVY SYKES'  
"And, we have a name." The blue-furred mutant smiled.  
Logan didn't hear him. Instead, he was focused on the section marked 'age and date last seen'.

'AGE LAST SEEN: 6'

'DATE LAST SEEN: 12/21/2012'

"Great!" Beast said, "Let's check Cerebro's files, just in case we come up with something else."  
Just as the two were about to leave the room, Logan suddenly stopped, closing his eyes in concentration.  
"Emma hasn't able to get anything else yet. She knows that we were able to find her file and wants me to bring it up there to see if we might be able to jog her memory with it." Logan said, popping his neck with immense satisfaction. Beast frowned in disgust, as Logan smirked in slight amusement at his discomfort.  
"Beast handed the file to him. "Go on. I'll be with you shortly."

"Hello again." Emma said politely, walking into the guest room they had given Ivy. "Would you mind if I were to try to read your mind again?"  
The violet-haired girl shook her head, but a worried look crossed her face. "But…every time you try, you wind up getting hurt... I don't want to hurt anyone."  
"I'm going to try something different this time." Emma answered calmly, touching the girl's arm in a reassuring fashion.  
Ivy nodded slowly, doubtful that this was would work. She then looked slightly embarrassed. "Um…I was wondering if, after this, you could stop trying to read my mind… It's kind of annoying…"  
Emma blinked. She had made sure to be careful so as not to alarm her. The child shouldn't have sensed her looking through her mind, much less be able to block a powerful and well-trained telepath, such as herself and shrug it off as 'annoying'. Not unless, of course, she had been taught extensively how to use her powers by a very powerful telepath through extensive training.  
"We know what your name is." Emma said after getting over the surprise of Ivy's last words. At this, the girl perked up. "Ivy Sykes." Ivy continued to look at Emma with the same expression. Her face was hard to read, but what she was able to get from her thoughts sounded happy.

"I'm going to ready your thoughts now, is that okay?" Emma asked, receiving a reply in the form of a weary nod.  
Once Emma was inside again, she remembered what all of her previous complaining was about. Ivy's mind was indeed completely blank.  
Emma began to walk around through the layers of blackness. All of the sudden, she felt a force ram into her, but this time she was ready. It took all she had to stay in Ivy's mind. In the physical world, her chair was pushed back several feet, causing a shrill screeching.  
Suddenly, Emma let out a scream of pain and slumped over the back of her chair. Ivy turned on her knees and shook the unconscious, trembling telepath, trying her best to wake her.  
"What happened?" Logan snarled as he burst into the room. The claws in his free hand were unsheathed, the sight of which made Ivy's heart leap in fear. Scott was right behind him, hands at his glasses.  
"She flew back, shouted in pain, and fell to the floor unconcious!" Ivy cried, tears in her eyes as she frantically shook Emma. Slowly, the blonde's eyes opened.  
"What just..." Emma started, then suddenly scrambled to her feet, causing Ivy to fall back over onto the bed. "Oh, my-" She started again, before she cut herself off.  
"What?" Scott demanded.

"I was able to reach the core of her power this time." The telepath answered, her eyes wide. "It was..." She stopped, turning to Ivy with an odd expression on her face, causing the girl to grow more uneasy.  
"She may not be very powerful right now, but her powers are versatile and she's been well trained in what to do with them." Emma explained, turning back to the men in the doorway. "Psionic energy manipulation, telepathy, telekinesis, flight..." She wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead. "Just general psionic powers, from what I can tell, but…"  
A few moments passed in careful silence before the doors to Ivy's room were thrown open once more and Beast walked in, a worried look on his face.  
"The news gets worse." Beast sighed as his colleagues circled behind him to get a better look at the file in his clawed hands.  
On it, there was a picture of a girl who was most certainly Ivy. However, instead of the smiling, innocent face Ivy seemed to normally wear, the girl's eyes were blank and cold. Her face was composed into an expressionless mask. She was clothed in a black and purple body suit, her hands resting on her hips gracefully.

Logan took the picture from the file in his hand and placed it next to the one in Beast's. There was no doubt that they both held the same girl. The girl that was now sitting on the bed in front of them, hands folded in her lap. There wasn't any visable difference except in the one her dark purple hair hung to her waist.  
Ivy stood up on her bed and looked over Logan's shoulder.  
"That's a picture of me at my initation ritual." She stated simply.  
Emma turned around and stared at her, amazed.  
"How did you..." She asked.  
"I don't." Ivy said slowly, and shaking her head in confusion.  
Logan grabbed the file from Beast and began to skim through it.  
Emma dropped down onto one knee, a hand brushing away a lock of the child's hair. "What initiation?" She asked. Ivy stared into Emma's eyes. "I... Don't know." She answered tonelessly.

'NAME: IVY SYKES

AGE: UNKNOWN

RACE: MUTANT

ALIAS: PSYCH

CLASS: UNKNOWN

POWERS: UNKNOWN – MOST LIKELY PSIONIC

AFFILIATION(S): THE DIABOLOS

CURRENT LOCATION: UNKNOWN'

"Are you sure this information is accurate?" Logan asked. Part of him refused to believe that such a little girl could be part of such an evil criminal organization.  
"I'm afraid it is indeed." Beast replied, turning his intense brown eyes on a confused Ivy.

Realising that this girl was the same one depicted in the prophecies that had been given to Professor Xavier thirty-seven years ago, they knew what they had to do. Ivy, unbenownst to herself, would be the cause of the end of humanity as we know it. Many would suffer horrifically, as others would be wiped out an an instant. Whole cities would burn, and not one being would survive. Logan looked around the room, as everyone stared at Ivy disgruntled. There was only one course of action that could be taken.  
Ivy would have to die before she regained her memory, if that was at all possible. It was a matter that could not be put on hold. Beast motioned Scott Summers over, quietly ordering him to lock Ivy in the Danger Room.  
He nodded. "If you'll follow me." He said politely, Ivy nodded. As they left the room, the remaining occupants of the room exchanged intense glances.  
Beast walked over to the doorway, peering down the empty hallway.  
"I expect you all understand the situation at hand." He said, as the faces around him nodded somberly.  
Logan shifted, leaning against a nearby wall. "There isn't another way?" He asked in a low voice.  
Beast shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not." He answered, his shaggy face suddenly looking rather tired. "She must be eliminated before it's too late."  
Logan narrowed his eyes. He adjusted his leather jacket. He hated that it had come to this. There was something about that girl he could relate to, that meant something to him.  
Beast continued on. "This isn't something that I want to do," He said bitterly, "But, It's something that must be done." And with this, he began to stride out of the room. Immediately the others began talking the matter over amongst themselves.

Logan followed Beast down the hall. "So, that's it then? Not even going to try and help her?" He spat indignantly.  
Beast stopped and turned to him.  
"Don't you understand? There's nothing I can do to make all of this go away." He sighed.  
"Look, I realise this isn't easy for you. I don't like it any more than you do."  
Logan sneered. "Then why aren't at least trying to do something to fix her?"  
Beast looked him in the eye. "And why do you care so much all of a sudden? It's not like you to take to somebody so quickly."  
Logan blinked a few times. "...This isn't about me, and you know it."  
He took his jacket off as his temper had made his temperature rise.  
A helpless look flitted across Beast's face, a rare moment.  
"If this really means so much to you, then I'll give you a week to attempt some sort of cure." He caved. "But, don't expect a miracle."  
With this, he continued down the hall.  
"One week, Logan," He called back. "After that, there is no more time to spare."  
Logan sucked in a breath.

There was a sudden explosion in the level above.  
Beast and Logan both looked up and exchanged glances. "Forge?"  
Beast shook his head, as they both went running towards the stairs. "Something else." He mumbled, jumping over the whole flight of stairs.  
Logan was slightly slower at going up them, but was still right behind Beast.  
Rubble trailed out of the doorway of the south facing atrium, as well as great plumes of dust.  
Logan could smell a burnt odour, as he kicked the broken door off of it's hinges and sent it flying, revealling the two people inside.  
They turned slightly to see what was headed their way, as if it was an everyday thing.  
The woman was dressed in the same sort of black and purple outfit that Ivy wore in the picture, only without the sleeves, showing thick ropey scars that spiralled up and down both of her arms.  
The man laughed when he saw Logan's claws. Neither Logan nor Beast took this for a good sign.  
"Oh, look! Such a pretty kitty you are, too." The woman cooed at Logan, brushing her fingers against four claw marks that marred her left cheek. She sighed. "Okay, I know we're tresspassing on your turf, and normally we woudn't have taken much of an interest in a dump like this, but you've got something of ours, and we'd kinda like to have it back." She clutched her hands in front of her, bobbing a bit with each word, a sarcastic smile on her face. "That is, if it's okay with you two boys, we'll just grab Psych and leave, without killing everyone here."  
Logan took a couple menacing steps forward, bending his knees slightly. "Go fuck yourself." He spat before suddenly lunging forward.  
The woman ducked as the man lept over her, hitting Logan square on. Beast took a ferocious swing at the female, hitting her squarely in the jaw, sending her flying into a nearby wall.  
An intense burning sensation began to attack the hand he'd used to hit the stranger.  
The woman got to her feet with ease and brought a dainty hand to her mouth, wiping the blood away. She then licked the blood off of her fingers sensually, staring into Beast's eyes as he stared at her in bewilderment. She giggled throatily. "Do you feel that burning?" She asked him. He remained silent, trying to ignore the pain in his hand as blood began to trail down to his fingertips. She stopped giggling, and began to laugh loudly. "What am I saying? Of course you do." She walked femininely over to him, her narrow hips swaying gently. She sighed. "That's why they call me 'Venom'." The metal plates in the soles of her leather boots hitting the concrete in the atrium with a sharp click.  
Logan sprinted towards the strange woman, his claws at the ready. As he quickly advanced on her, she jumped up at break-neck speed, and kicked him in the middle of his chest with both feet, sending him flying out the gaping hole in the wall.  
As her partner advanced on Beast, Venom stomped out to Logan.  
"Oh, honey, I should have told you I don't do two guys at once."  
She looked down at him. "Though I have to say I am a bit surprised that you're still alive. Perhaps I can remedy that." She kicked him as hard as she could in the chest, ripping open his shirt and huge whole in his chest.

The man rushed Beast again and again, his large hunting knives flashing wildly.  
Beast grimaced and slammed his shoulder into the man's stomach, throwing them both to the floor.  
One of the knives went spinning out of the man's hand, as Beast raised his clawed hand and slammed it down into the man's abdomen. THUNK!  
Beast blinked, taken aback, as he realized his claws had sunk deep into the wooden door beneath the man.  
He felt a weird sensation around his arm, a tingling sort of sensation, not completely unpleasant, it was kind of like sticking it into warm water.  
The man clutched he's stomach. "Ahhh! Yeh gat meh!" He said in a bad southern American accent.  
Venom came jogging back into the room. "Plague! Quit playing with him!" She ordered. "We have to get moving."  
Plague sighed, and rolled out from under Beast. "Fine." He huffed. "He was kinda slow anyways."  
Beast struggled to free his claws.  
Venom, pinned his injured hand under her boot, causing him to cry out. "You know, it's kind of a shame, you both are so yummy." She whispered in his ear, playing with the hair beside it. She straightened. "Night night." She said, before slamming his head into her knee.

The pain was so intense, that Logan could see stars.  
He slowly dragged himself up, holding a hand over the gaping hole in his chest.  
He limped through the hole in the wall of the atrium. His breathing rough and ragged.  
He tripped over a piece of rubble and stumbled slightly, but was able to right himself in time.  
Logan looked over to where beast lay unconcious. He crouched down to see if his friend was still breathing. He was.  
Logan shuffled onwards, silently hoping he wasn't too late.  
"Logan!" Storm called from the doorway. She dropped the duffle she was holding, and jogged over to him. "What happened?" She asked, proping him up. Storm watched as the cut in Logan's chest slowly healed. She had seen the healing process before, but it still amazed her.  
Logan held up a finger in the air. A few seconds later, he had enough strength to carry on.  
He briefly explained the ordeal in a low voice.  
Storm nodded. "Where's Ivy?"

"So, why didn't they get someone stronger, if she's so... I don't know, explosive?" Forge asked Emma, as he picked up a card. Emma tuck her hair behind her left ear. She frowned. "I don't know." She admitted. "Maybe you were the best they could find."  
"I hate this, this is going to take all day." A strange voice said out of nowhere.  
Suddenly, two people walked out of the wall to the right of them.  
Venom looked at Emma and Forge. "Hey, do you know where Psych is?" She yelled at them.  
Emmas jaw dropped in surprise, as Forge stood up.  
Plague nudged Venom. "I guess we found her, huh?" He asked, pulling out his knives. He flicked his long, black hair, as he pushed his goggles back. Because of a genetic defect, Plague didn't have irises, causing him to be extremely light sensitive to the point of excruciating pain.  
He smiled lightly at the two guards. "I'm going to make you wish you were never born." He said, marching towards them, his overcoat swishing behind him.

Ivy was sitting on the cold metal floor of the danger room, counting the squares in the ceiling, when she heard yelling outside the room.  
Ivy jumped as something hit the door with a loud thump.  
There was silence for a moment or two, then there was a deafening bang that shook the Ivy.  
Carefully, she got up and walked over to the door, and put her ear against it.  
A couple inches above her head, a fist exploded through the door.  
Venom gripped the warped metal and pulled with all her might.  
With a horrible screeching sound, the hole was widened enough for her and Plague to step through.  
Plague shook his head at Venom. "That was really unnecessary." He pointed out, staring at Ivy, who stared back in fear.  
Venom chuckled. "No it wasn't." She said. "It shows them that we're something they never dealt with before."  
Plague moved towards Ivy cautiously, holding her stare. "Come on, Psych, we're going to take you home." He told her, offering his hand to her.  
Ivy took a step backwards, shaking her head slightly.  
Plague smiled ruefully at her. "What? You think these assholes care about you? You think they care whether you live or die?" He asked her, stepping closer. "Cortex searched the world for you, he found you here. But you know what? He read their minds. They plan to kill you, Psych."  
Ivy's face contorted in confusion. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice quavering.  
Plague stood right in front of her. "I'm your friend." He gestured to Venom in the doorway. "We are your friends. And the key to your past."  
Ivy played with a strand of her hair. "Where are the others?" She asked him.  
"Funny you should ask," Venom said. "Here they come. Ooh, and they don't look happy. Plague, we're going to have to go to plan 'B'."  
Plague sighed, running a hand over his face. "We have to go now." He said, raising his offered hand.  
Ivy took another step back.  
Plague put his hand in his pocket. "You want to stay here, even though I just told you that their going to kill you?" He raised the corner of his mouth and made a clicking sound.  
"Well, you can't say I didn't try."  
They could her peopple coming closer.  
"Sorry, Psy." Plague said, before stabbing a hypo into her thigh.  
Ivy screamed in shock and pain, she struggled against him as the serum took effect, causing her to feel weak and sleepy.  
Plague put her exhausted form over his shoulder and went for the door at a fast clip. "Take her." He said, passing Ivy off to Venom, before withdrawing his knives once more.  
Venom heard a roaring sound. She turned to the advancing X-Men. "Oh, look, it's kitty." She said, starting to run back the way they came.  
Logan sneered and took off after her.  
Plague stepped in front of Storm and Scott, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck.  
Logan was rapidly gaining on Venom. he grabbed a hand full of her long, pale orange hair, and pulled her into a choke hold.  
Ivy slipped off of Venom's shoulder on to the floor.  
Logan quickly slipped his arms down, pinning Venom's arms to her sides.

Scott advanced on Plague, hand to his visor. Plague suddenly became a cloud of grey particles. Jean, who had discerned a strong note of agitation from Scott, decided to find out just what was going on for herself. She approached the basement level, able to triangulate Scott's whereaouts thanks to her telepathy.  
As Scott tried to keep Plague at a disadvantage, Logan approached with Venom, who struggled every step of the way.  
"Give the fuck up. You're not going anywhere." Logan growled at her, using more force to keep her restrained. "Up yours, pal." Venom told him tersely as she whipped her head back. She connected roughly with Logan's nose, breaking it upon contact. Blood streamed down, dripping onto Venom's hair. He let a hissing breath out through clenched teeth, and tightened his grip still more, his nails just digging into her skin.  
Venom wheezed, as she kicked the ground, allowing her to gain the momentum she needed to flip him onto the ground. Unfortunately for her, he maintained his grip and she fell to the floor with him.  
She manouvred into a position where she was able to spray spit onto his face and neck.  
He let out a grunt of pain, and threw her against the wall with such force that her body dented it.  
Venom was still concious, however her arm had a sizeable split in it from the heavy force with which she connected the wall.  
Logan took off his shirt and wiped his face with it, before rushing Venom with all his force. His claws unsheathed, he plunged them deeply into her leg. "You still think that you're a match for me, sweetheart?" He spat, a bead of sweat dripping down to his jawline.  
He withdrew his claws, and put his hand to her throat.  
"Made in Heaven." She whispered quietly, reaching quickly up and grabbing his face, bringing his mouth to hers. She kissed him roughly, causing one of Logan's teeth to scrape the inside of his lip. He tasted blood and bitterness. He pulled his head away from hers, his mouth and throat heating up to a painful burning.  
He opened his eyes wide, "What the hell did you just do?" He demanded, shoving her hands down to her sides once more, as the burning became worse.  
"I poisoned you." She stated simply, with a shrug. Her eyes sparkled as she stared off into the distance.  
A few moments later, the strange symptom began to disappear as suddenly as it had begun.

Jean started over to Scott, sizing up the situation at hand. Storm grabbed her shoulders, "Jean, look out!" She shouted, shoving her out of the way of the swirling mass that was Plague.  
"What is that... Thing?" Jean asked her friend, "And what is it doing here?" Scott fired at Plague, his laser going straight through the foggy cloud. "He's a phaser. He came for Ivy, along with that one." He rolled to the side, as Plague feinted to the other, and engulfed Scott.  
Plague whooshed over to where Venom stood in a deadlock with Logan, a formidable opponent. He materialised back into human form, and quickly darted to her. He clutched her hand, dematerialising them both. They ran to the wall and rushed through it, leaving the X-Men behind and without a way to pursue them in time to catch up.  
The fight was over, and Ivy was safe. For now.

Logan, sweaty and bleeding, told the others about Beast, who was still unconcious in the atrium. Jean nodded, and went upstairs to find Colossus, who would be strong enough to carry Beast to the infirmary. Scott knelt down and scooped Ivy into his arms.  
"Who were they?" He asked Logan.  
"Well," Logan said, wishing he had a cigar, as he wiped the rest of the blood off of his face. "The woman was called 'Venom', and the guy with the knives went by 'Plague'. Can you tell me why they wanted her?" He asked with a half-assed gesture towards Ivy.  
Scott stared at Logan for a second. "I guess we'll have ask her, won't we?" He said. "Somebody should get the Professor down here."

Twenty minutes later, Professor Xavier had assembled everyone in his spacious office. After a long discussion regarding the strange events of the evening, he took a few moments to reflect.  
He looked sternly around at the room's occupants, then uttered a single word. "Cerebro."  
Logan snorted, "Yeah, 'cause that's the answer to every problem, isn't it Professor?" He raised an eyebrow. "Every little thing. 'Cerebro.' 'I lost my glasses'. Cerebro. 'My puppy went missing.' Cerebro. 'Did that condom really break?' Cerebro." Logan took a deep drink from the portion of whiskey in his glass, and sighed in frustration. Storm elbowed Logan mercilessly in the side, earning an indignant glare from him. "What?" He snapped. "I only said what we were all thinking." He shrugged his shoulders. Scott snorted, "Oh, you can read minds now?" He asked sarcastically. Logan stood up, knocking the chair to the floor. "I don't need to read minds to know that, Cyclops." He snarled. A rumble of thunder could be heard disctinctly through the walls.  
"Shall we break out the rulers for the dick measuring contest?" Storm asked in annoyance.  
"Or can we get on with this? The last I heard, we had a real problem on our hands." Logan sulked slightly, and righted his chair. He sat down heavily and crossed his arms.  
"And could you please put a shirt on?" She added, glaring at Logan.  
He sighed, "Am I distracting you that much?" He asked with a smug grin.  
Storm rolled her eyes. "Professor." She prompted. The Professor looked from Storm to Logan. "Enough." He said coldly, "We have bigger problems to deal with." With this, he backed up and rolled out of the room to Cerebro.

The Diabolos were in a state of uproar.  
Their leader, Anubis, died suddenly, leaving the group squabbling over who was next to inherit the powerful position.  
Plague listen to the violent fighting happening in the room next to them as he stitched up Venom's arm.  
"He didn't even stumble." Venom said, being careful not to move while Plague fixed her up.  
He shook his head. "Just a reminder, here, but not only did you both try to kill each other, but you're both on opposite side of the game." Plague said, wiping away some fresh blood.  
"I can't say I think it will work out for you two."  
Venom, made a face. "You talk like I'm swooning over the greaser." She complained.  
"Well, you did say he was yummy after all." Plague pointed out. "And it must be nice not to kill the first person you've kissed in a long time. Maybe that's what you need, a hardy man."  
Venom sighed, and ran her good hand through her hair. "If you weren't helping me right now, I'd smack you one, cheeky Irish bastard." She said, making Plague laugh.  
"You wouldn't slap your only friend would you?" He asked, holding up his hands in mock defense.  
Venom leaned over and gently slapped him behind the ear.  
Cortex sauntered into the room, looking like all the world was an inconvenience to him.  
"And what are you two kids doing, then?" He asked in his nasal voice, as he came to a stop in front of them. Cortex crossed his arms and stared at them dully.  
Plague looked up from his work. "We are making mad, passionate love, Cortex, as you can plainly see. Care to join us?" He asked.  
Cortex patted Plague roughly on the back, as Plague was making another suture, and laughed.  
"Always the joker." Cortex said. "Now, what can I do to help?"  
Plague carefully restitched around the rip that Cortex caused.  
"For starters, don't hit me in the back when I'm sewing her up." He said, as Venom watched Cortex, like a cobra watches a mouse.  
"You could always stand guard outside." She suggested.  
Cortex lumbered slowly out, casting a dirty look backwards at them.  
"Maybe you should be nicer to him." Plague said. "After all, if he wanted to, he could make you dance like a puppet."  
Venom wrinkled her nose at him. "He just ripped open my arm! Name one time where he didn't screw up. Face it ,Mac, he's a lummox who likes to stick his thumbs in other people's minds." She said sharply, shifting uncomfortably.  
Plague breathed out, knowing he wasn't going to get through to her.  
"We should ditch this place soon as possible, at least for a little while. There were at least two mind readers there. They would have picked up on you thinking about this place." He said, changing the topic.  
Venom looked down at her half done arm. "How long?" She asked him.  
Plague looked up. "For what?" He asked her.  
"For us to leave, to be gone." She clarified.  
"I can do a couple cheap stitches here and here, that'll keep your arm closed, and then we leave for a few days. That gives them a chance to crash in here, look for us, and then be kicked out on their heinies." Plague said, pulling his jaw forward. "That would probably give us some cover so we can circle back to that school and take a quick look-see for Psych. Sound good?"  
Venom nodded. "Do it."

Professor Xavier gingerly lowered the connection from his head to the console.  
For some reason, he could get a connection with Venom, or, her real name, Prudence Palmer.  
He had listened to Plague through her, and focused on their plans to hide out for a while.  
Xavier turned back to the door and made his way out to where the others were waiting for him.  
"Were you able to get a fix on them?" Storm asked, her arms crossed.  
"...Yes." He said, placing his thumb and index finger to his chin. "And we might be able to capture them."  
Xavier explained what he was able to garner from Prudence's mind. He also told them a plan that he formulated.  
Logan crossed his arms, unintentionally mirroring Storm.  
Scott cleared his throat. "Do you have a back up plan?" He asked, remembering Plague's fighting style. If Plague hadn't pulled back, Scott would have suffocated.  
The professor shook his head. "There's no time. If the plan fails, we'll just have to improvise." He told them.  
"Easy for you to say all that." Logan said, tapping the ash from his cigar onto the floor. "We're the ones risking our necks while you just sit here with Cerebro."  
Storm raised her eyebrows. "Venom got you scared, Logan?" She asked him, smiling.  
He snorted in derision. Logan glared at her, offended and annoyed. Logan shifted his gaze to Scott, smirking slightly. "Can you believe this?" He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.  
Scott shook his head in mild amusement, causing Logan to frown.  
"Enough." Xavier cut in. "You need to get moving while there's still time."

In the wintery tundra of Newfoundland, Plague and Venom stalked through the thick northern forest that edged the small town of Helven, the frigid air cutting through their jackets as they trudged towards a forgotten cabin.  
Venom turned her head and stuck her nose in the air and began to sniff. "I smell a man and he's not far away." She announced.  
She turned in a slow circle and faced a stranger, who wiggled his fingers at her in greeting. "It'sa cold one. eh?" He asked. Venom rubbed her eyebrow. "You know, that gag was funny the first hundred times I heard it. Now not so much." She started to walk away.  
"Better change quick, Plague, your face might stick that way."  
They found a squatter in the cabin, and hoping to make sure that no one came sniffing around the cabin, instead of killing him, like Venom had first attempted to do, they tied the old man up.  
Plague pulled a can of tuna out of his over-coat pocket, along with a can opener.  
Venom laid down on her side, exhausted from her body healing and the long treck out to the cabin.  
Her eyes closed lazily of their own accord, and soon she was softly snoring.

Storm stepped silently through the heavily falling snow as her foot prints were already filling with new snow.  
Feeling more in his element, Logan lead the way, striding confidently north, as the chill wind stung at his eyes.  
The others shivered as Logan stopped for a second to sniff the air and change his course slightly west.  
Beast slogged through the snow and touched Storm's arm. "Could you ease up on the snow a bit, Ororo?" He asked her. "The snow's sticking to the hair on my face."  
Storm looked in his face and saw that he was rapidly turning into a snow ball.  
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Sorry." She apologized. Storm looked ahead at Logan and saw that the same thing was happening to his sideburns as he strode steadily into the wind.  
This was too much for Storm, she just had to laugh.  
"What's so funny?" Jean asked, looking around confused.  
Storm waved her off. "Oh, nothing." She said, still chuckling.  
Logan looked back at her, giving Storm a peculiar look.  
As he looked back, he tripped over a fallen branch that was covered by the snow.  
And while Logan swore, Storm laughed quietly to herself.  
Logan slipped as he pushed himself up, causing him to fall back into the snowbank, only deeper.  
Beast strode towards Logan, and offered a furry hand.  
Logan reluctantly took the proffered hand, and was quickly brought to his feet.  
"How much further?" Beast asked in a low voice, after making sure the other man was alright.  
Logan brushed his butt off, and sniffed. "No more than eighteen metres." He grunted, shaking snow out of his leather jacket. Logan pointed ahead at the faint out-line of a crumbling shanty that trailed a thin of smoke from it's leaning chimney.  
"That should be it there." He said. "But there's someone in there with them." Sniffing a little bit more, his nose high in the air.  
The group quickened their pace as they came up on the little one room wood and brick shack.  
It's opaque windows affording them little insight as to what waited for them on the inside.  
Logan unceremoniously kicked the door off of it's hinges, sending it flying across the room.  
If Venom hadn't been so exhausted by the day before, her reaction time would have prevented what happened next.  
Storm aimed the plasma gun that Forge had made, at Plague, immobilizing him, while Logan went for Venom.  
It was decided before they even left that this would be the best course of action, seeing as how she secreted poison from her nail bed, and seemed impervious to pain, as was demonstrated when she ran after Logan had skewered her thigh.  
As she lept up, Logan whipped a thin chain of adamantium around her neck.  
While Venom choked and struggled to free herself, Logan brought the chain around her wrists, pulling it tight.  
As Venom snarled and fought against it, Logan chained her arms to her torso, leaving her fairly defenseless. But that didn't stop Venom from falling onto her back, kicking out, knocking Logan onto his back.  
She rolled and raised her foot high above his head, bringing it down to smash into his face.  
In self-defense, Logan raised his hand, his claws shooting out, and speared through Venom's foot through her heel, and out the top.  
For the third time in her life, Venom screamed in pain.  
Logan retracted his claws from her shaking foot, and got up.  
Plague was already having his frozen form hauled up onto Scott's shoulders.  
Logan grabbed the chain that crossed behind Venom's back and pulled her to her feet.  
She collapsed back to the floor, swearing. "Do you honestly think I can walk, you prick?" She snapped, wiggling her arms slightly, trying to slip free.  
As Venom's body trembled from shock, Logan coldly gazed down at her. Venom glared back at him, refusing to submit.  
Logan let out a slow breath through clenched teeth, a vein in his neck pulsing.  
Logan bent down and threw her carelessly onto his shoulder.  
"You try anything, you're walking the rest of the way, and it's a long trek." He warned in a deadly tone, which Venom scoffed at.  
"You're fuckin' joking, right?" She said in a slightly strained voice, due to the fact that his shoulder dug into her stomach. Venom felt the old familiar feeling of helplessness that she thought she had left a long time ago, but pushed past it the best she could, hoping that her voice didn't betray her.  
Logan tightened his grip on her and began to walk to the door, ignoring her sarcasm.  
In the alcove, Jean soothed the squatter, as she untied him.  
"You're mutants!" The man said, somewhere between disgust and fear.  
"Wow! I did not know that! Thanks, you old fart, I'd never known unless you had said something!" Venom said in an artifically bright voice.  
Logan rolled his eyes at this, and Storm said, "Let's just go."

Ivy sat on her cot, talking to Bobby as they played cards.  
"So, who were those guys that broke in?" He asked, curiousity getting the best of him.  
Ivy shrugged. "I don't know." She said, frowning. "But they seemed to think they knew me."  
Bobby tipped his head. "You said that you couldn't remember anything, so maybe they did." He offered, picking up a card.  
Ivy looked up at him. "Maybe." She conceeded.  
"Maybe they thought you were being held against your will. Might explain the aggression." Bobby said.  
"I don't want to talk about it anymore." She said, suddenly sulky.  
Bobby ran his thumb nail against the cards in his hand which made the cards emit that satisfying, indescribable sound.  
"What do you want to talk about?" He asked, not wanting to drop the subject so soon.  
Ivy sighed. "I'm getting hungry." She said, ignoring his question.  
Bobby got up. "I'll go get you something then." He said. He hated this job. It was so boring.  
As he jogged up the stairs, he heard the plane landing.  
Forgetting about Ivy for the moment, he went to see how the X-Men fared.

Once Venom had quit fighting Jean long enough, Venom had her injured foot bandaged. But that didn't stop her from spitting at anyone who came near her.  
After a gob of venom nearly hit Jean in the face, Xavier who had been watching the whole scene unfold, froze Venom and fitted an impromptu gag to keep her from injuring anyone.  
Plague quietly watched them all from a portable plexiglass chamber that had icy air blowing down on him, slowing his atoms so that phasing was next to impossible.  
Beast walked towards the chamber and placed his hand on the glass. "What did you want Ivy Sykes for?" He asked, tapping a claw against it.  
"Same could be asked of you, Pal." Plague smirked, warming his hands in his armpits. "What's amatter? You can't get a nice girl on your own?" He taunted, sliding down the glass to the floor.  
Beast turned to the professor. His patience waning, fighting a sudden urge to tip the container over.  
Venom made a muffled sound.  
"She says you look like a smurf on steriods and rogane." Plague said, biting his fingernail.  
"We're trying to do this the civil way, rather than just ripping the information right out of your head." Beast said through gritted teeth. He was starting to feel funny, and he was beginning to get a headache. "But if you prefer, we could do that instead."  
Plague stood up and leaned his forehead against the cold wall of his prison. "I'd like to see you try, furball." He nearly whispered, glaring. His eyes shone in a startling fashion, as his body began to change in slow, subtle ways. Beast stalked close to the container, his breath gently fogging the plexiglass as Plague stared into his eyes. In one quick instant, he transformed the rest of the way into the Professor.  
Beast turned to look at the real Professor, as he looked upon his standing double. Xavier pressed his thin lips into a line, as Plague began to dance a jig sarcastically.  
"I've seen enough," He said, spinning his wheelchair around. "Extract the information whichever way that you care to."  
Venom pulled against her restraints, twisting and turning, hoping to loosen them.  
Her foot started to cause pain to shoot up her leg, while she tried to move everything, but the injured limb.  
Jean shook her head. What was with the Professor and Beast?  
They had never acted like that before when pushed so little.  
But she could see that neither Plague or Venom would say anything about their motives.  
Jean placed her hands on either side of Venom's head, as Plague finally stopped his mocking.  
Venom when limp for a moment, before struggling harder than before, even going so far as to arch her back, accidently smashing her head into the table.  
Venom yelled through the gag at Jean, even though she would be unheeded, her eyes wild with fear and hatred.  
Jean froze her body. "Stop, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." She said, trying to soothe the other woman.  
Venom muttered something from the other side of the gag. Jean figured it was just as well she couldn't hear it.  
She placed her hands once more on either side of Venom's head, and read the horrors that lurked there.

Logan sat on the steps by the ruined atrium, eating a salmon denver, as the sun went down, sulking slightly.  
Logan chewed thoughtfully, as he watched a fat skunk waddle through the grounds, searching for a stray scrap of food.  
There was a rustle in the bushes behind the skunk, scaring it enough to make it spray the shrubbery before jogging away.  
There was a scrabbling, and a young man fell out of the bushes.  
His red wings dazzled the eyes as his colourful pearlesant tail lashed about, gripping the base of the shrub he just fell out of.  
He coughed, wiping feriously at his eyes.  
Logan stood slowly, not wanting to leave his sandwich, but ready to chase the youth if should he decide to run.  
The youth looked up at Logan.  
"Crud." He said, lowering his brows.  
Logan frowned. "Who the hell are you?" He asked crossing his arms.  
The youth blinked, licked his lips and regretted it instantly.  
"Me? I could ask you the same thing! What are you doing on my father's estate? Damn it, we need better security!" The younger man huffed, before turning sharply and walked away muttering under his breath.  
Logan blinked a couple times, frowned deeper. "Hold it." He said firmly. "You're coming with me."  
The boy took off running, swearing loudly as he spread his wings.  
Logan took off at a fast pace, quickly closing the distance between them.  
Just as the boy lept into the air, Logan grabbed hold of the boy's bunny hug, dragging him roughly back to earth.  
"Aah! Let go, motherfucker! Let go!" The boy shouted, lashing Logan with his shimmery tail. "What's your fuckin' problem man? I said, let go!"  
Logan growled and unsheathed his claws, displaying them clearly. He had a bad day, and he wasn't in the mood to mess around.  
"Get up and walk." He ordered.  
The boy got up, dusting himself off. "Man, you shoulda just said that in the first place. Didn't know that this was a no flying zone." He said, trying to be bad-ass, but failing miserably.  
Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just get going." He said, his patience wearing thin.

Jean watched Forge as he set about making yet another grilled cheese sandwich.  
Forge hadn't been as badly hurt as Emma had been in the ambush earlier, he had only suffered a few cuts that weren't too deep.  
"You know I can make my own supper." Jean said gently, as Forge flipped the sandwich over and reapplied the iron to it.  
"I don't mind." He said, oblivous to the fact that no one liked his cooking remotely.  
They heard scuffling out in the main hallway, followed by a loud thump.  
Jean got up from her seat, and went into the hallway. She had enough surprises for one day.  
The winged youth struggled to free himself from Logan's grip.  
"Leggo, man. I said 'LET GO!'" He barked, twisting this way and that.  
"Yeah, that's going to happen." Logan said sarcastically.  
The kid stopped struggling for a second, and Logan let go.  
The kid's face lit up, he looked back as he started to run, and thumped heavily into the wall.  
"Damn it!" The boy cursed, getting up from the floor.  
He started to get ready to run, but felt himself freeze up.  
Jean held her hand in the air, focusing on the boy, as she turned questioningly to Logan.  
"I found lizard boy out by the wall. Considering what's been going on, I thought I should bring him in here." He sniffed.  
The boy's face contorted. "Lizard boy?! I have wings, what about that says 'Lizard'? Fuckin' idiot."  
Logan ignored him.  
Jean walked towards the intruder. "Who are you?" She asked.  
The boy winked at her. "The answer to your dreams." He said.  
Logan snorted at this in amusement.  
Jean did not look impressed. "What do you want?" She tried again.  
"That's not important... Yet." He said, trying to sound mysterious, but just continuing to sound like a moron.  
"You're a mild telepath, Mac." The professor said, rolling out from the shadows.  
"I'm less than impressed." Mac said, underwhelmed. "I expected more from the great professor."  
The professor turned to where Logan and Jean stood.  
"He's here to obtain Ivy, as well as sabotage Prudence and Plague." He continued. "His ability causes people to become extremely aggresive and hostile. He should be placed in the danger room for now."  
Logan got a grip on Mac's arm, and started pulling him towards the elevator.  
"Wait," Jean said, jogging to catch up. "I'll come with you."  
Logan waited until she was almost beside him before going on his way.  
"I got some useful information from Venom's mind." She told him.  
"Yeah? What?" Logan asked, as Mac's ears perked up.  
"Ivy is a class ten mutant. Actually, there's a chance that she's stronger. There was a memory of Venom's where she saw Ivy incinerate a small town, leaving it so that there was nothing but ashes left." She said. Mac whistled.  
"The two of them met at a military facility where they both were being kept as test subjects. That's where Ivy started to lose her memory."  
Logan looked intrigued. "How?" He asked.  
"The mind is a spectacular thing, Logan. Her mind started to set up road blocks to keep the pain and horrible memories from overwhelming her. As she did this, it made her powers stronger, which in turn, made them experiment on her more.  
Eventually, when they excaped, they joined the Diabolos, but by then, Ivy was on the path to total oblivion. The last time she went out, was the time Scott found her. She must have set up the final road block, destoying her memory completely." A realization struck her. "Logan, at all costs, we have to keep Plague, Venom, anyone from her past away from her, otherwise she could cause mass effects, possibly wiping half this country off the face of the planet!"  
Mac chewed his lip. "Bummer." He said.  
Logan frowned.  
"How do you expect to do that?" He asked. "We haven't exactly had a whole hell of a lot of luck when it came to keeping people away from her before."  
Jean thought hard, as Logan shoved Mac into the danger room with a little too much vigour, sending Mac sprawling.  
"...I don't know." Jean admitted when the door closed. "I hate to say it, but Beast might be right, Ivy probably will have to be eliminated."  
Logan squinted at her. "So that's what we're doing now? So much for protecting those who can't help themselves, we'll just start killing them ourselves as soon as it get too tough." He took a few steps towards her. "Actually, that's a good idea. Why didn't I come up with that myself?" He added sarcastically.  
Jean tipped her head to the side. "Logan..." She started, before he stomped down the hallway.  
Jean jogged after him.  
"Damn it, Logan!" She said, when she was right behind him. "Don't go acting all self-rightous. You know as well as I do, that sometimes this kind of thing happens. You think I would give up this easily if I couldn't think of a better option? I haven't heard any ideas from you lately on the subject. If you can think of something better than us having to kill that little girl, by all means tell me now."  
Logan stopped so suddenly, that Jean almost bumped into him.  
"Trust me, I'm working on it." He said quietly, before continuing on.  
Jean hoped he could think of something soon, or else it might be to late.

Bobby handed Ivy her sandwich.  
"Sorry it took so long." He apologized, sitting beside her on the bed.  
Ivy stared at the plate. The grilled cheese with tomatoes looking slightly soggy.  
"I hate tomatoes." She told him, poking at the cold sandwich.  
Bobby shrugged. "Sorry, but that seems to be the only thing we can get around here. Just be happy you're not lactose intolerant or vegan, otherwise it would have soy cheese instead." He said, shuddering at the thought of soy cheese.  
Ivy smiled at that. She tore a piece of the crust off, and popped it her mouth, chewing tentatively.  
Curiousity still gripping Bobby, he asked the stranger, "So, you really have no clue who those guys were?" He asked.  
"Nope." She said. "Why would I lie about that?"  
Bobby leaned back on the bed, so that his head was touching the wall.  
"Dunno, you don't want to be associated with maniacs?" He offered.  
"Seriously?" She asked, flipping her hair.  
"I know of times when I didn't want to be linked to people I know." Bobby replied.  
Ivy picked the tomatoes out of her sandwich.  
Bobby sighed. "I still say, 'who would want to be connected to kidnappers and murderers'?" He said, believing he had a valid point.  
Ivy stared at him hard.  
"Stop it." She said. "Just leave me alone."  
As Bobby pressed his lips together, the lights dimmed a bit.  
He frowned. Last time that happened, Magneto was attacking the school.  
All at once, the lights exploded, leaving the room completely dark.  
As the fragments of glass fell towards them, Bobby made a shield of ice, and pulled Ivy towards himself, protecting her.  
He grabbed for Ivy's wrist, but suddenly realized that he shouldn't have been able to see her arm, which was giving off a strange glow. He took hold of it anyways, but then quickly released it in as he recieved a shock of electricity.  
Bobby jumped, but went to take hold of Ivy's upper arm, and felt an overwhelming amount of heat coming off of her. She felt like she was going to burst into flames.  
Bobby got off the bed. "Ivy, get up!" He told her, looking up at the rapidly melting ice.  
Ivy didn't move, she seemed to be immobilised.  
Taking a deep breath, Bobby coated himself in ice, and carefully picked her up. He carried her through the doorway.  
He set her down in the hallway, his arms already burned from the extreme heat she was giving off.  
Storm knelt down to examine Ivy, who was still immobile, her eyes closed tightly.  
Bobby stuck his injured hand in front of Storm.  
"No!" He said loudly. "Don't touch her. Look what happened to me. And I had my arms sheathed in ice."  
Storm glanced at the burns. "Bobby, I want you to put a thick circle of ice around her and then head to the first aid room."  
Bobby nodded solemnly, and did as he was told.  
Storm looked into Ivy's face, the one part of her that wasn't covered in ice. She seemed so peaceful.  
"Ivy? Can you hear me?" Storm wished that she had asked Bobby to send someone to help.  
She felt a sense of urgency as the ice started to melt at an alarming rate, water pooling on the floor.  
A few minutes later, Rogue and Scott arrived, Bobby had told them what was happening on his way to the first aid room.  
"What's going on?" Scott asked.  
There was a sharp crack as the ice broke, sending a flood of warm water gushing over the floor.  
"She's burning up and unconcious." Storm told them. "That ice was at least ten inches thick a couple minutes ago."  
Storm got up, and hesitantly touching Ivy's chest. She was still overly warm, but if they could hurry, they could carry her to the infirmary.  
"Scott, do you think you can pick her up?" She asked.  
Scott nodded. "I've done it before." he said.  
Storm turned to Rogue as Scott went to his work.  
"Go find Jean, tell her to meet us in the hallway in front of the infirmary. We might need her to lift Ivy up if she gets too hot again." She said.  
Rogue started jogging down the hall, slipping once on a small puddle of water.  
Scott gave Storm a look. "Come on." He said, before running towards the infirmary, the small, unconsious girl held firmly in his arms.

Plague looked over to where Venom lay.  
She hadn't moved since Jean had crept into her mind.  
He could see Venom's eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, and felt rage build in his stomach.  
Plague believed that there was no valid excuse to enter someone's mind, especially without their permission.  
If he ever got out of this, he'd personally make sure that Jean Grey suffered for what she did to his friend.  
Plague had developed a way, a long time ago, to keep others from prying into his mind.  
He had tried to tell Venom how to do it too, but either he was born with an ablility that she wasn't, or he couldn't explain it properly, despite trying on several accounts.  
Plague wondered if it was because of what Venom went through at the testing facility, that caused her to fear a mind probe so much, that it turned her completely wild.  
Plague thought about that. Well, Venom was always a bit wild. Someone might even go so far to say that she was animalistic.  
Plague turned so that he could face the door better, when he heard footsteps rapidly aproaching.  
He blew into his hands. The bastards still had cold air blowing on him.

Scott tried not to think of the pain in his arms and chest, as Ivy scorched him.  
They were at the infirmary's door, and soon he'd be able to set her down.  
When they were half-way in, the power blew.  
Lights exploded, the televisions died instantly, the main reactor sped up to an extremely dangerous speed and broke apart, sending pieces flying every where.  
Scott walked over to where he thought was a table, found it, and placed Ivy on it.  
As soon as her flesh touched the cool metal, Ivy glowed again, this time much brighter than before.  
The room was lit up so brightly, that it was as if stadium lights had been brought in.  
There was a faint crackling sound, and Ivy's clothes burst into bright flames.  
Storm ran over to the sink, and ran water into a pail.  
As Scott heard Jean's rushed footsteps, he noticed the plexiglass box in the corner.  
The sprinkler system went off with a snap, dousing the flames that danced around Ivy.  
Then, utter chaos broke out.  
A whirlwind started in the center of the room, and whipped around and around, gathering things, and then sending them flying.  
A sick bed went crashing into a wall, while a knife embedded itself into the ceiling.  
"Get down!" Jean yelled.  
Something heavy hit Scott in the chest, knocking him over, as a bed flew past his head, smashing into the ceiling.  
Venom glared down at the ruby sunglasses as she pulled her fist back, ready to punch Scott in the head, hard.  
Scott fired his lasers at her, hitting her in the shoulder.  
Venom howled as she raised her head high, before plunging down, biting Scott's upper arm.  
Scott felt a burning pain as blood poured out of the wound and Venom's poison seeped in.  
Plague looped his arms around Venom's middle, yanking her off of Scott.  
"Snap out of it, she's going critical!" He yelled in her ear.  
Venom released her grip, and allowed herself to be half dragged away by her only friend.  
Suddenly, the room filled with blinding light.  
Ivy was gone.  
Everything that was in the air came crashing to the floor, in the pitch dark room.  
Storm got up, followed by Jean.  
"Where's Scott?" Jean coughed, feeling panic fill her.  
Storm remembered seeing him standing by the table when the room lit up.  
"Over there I think." She said, pushing Jean slightly with a gentle prod.  
"Scott?" Jean called, hoping that she would get an answer. Maybe the worst thing that happen to him was he got knocked out.  
They heard a groan.  
"Storm, over by the sink there's a drawer with glow sticks." Jean said, making her way towards the groan.  
There was a snapping sound, quickly followed another.  
"Found them." Rogue said, tossing the sticks at Storm, before snapping a few more.  
Scott clutched his arm, as his breath came in short painful bursts.  
Jean knelt beside him, trying to think of how to save him.  
She touched his arm, and had a sudden flash of inspiration.  
She raised her hand so that it was over the wound, and thought hard on the poison quickly spreading through Scott's body.  
Scott felt his heart slow, as the poison was pulled out into a undulating ball under Jean's hand.  
She moved the poison to the side, and let it fall to the floor, where it hissed and bubbled.  
Storm was already on her way out of the room to find the runaway Diabolos.  
A glow stick in each hand, she ran through the hallways.  
Plague glanced behind him, and saw the bobbing glow sticks. He grabbed Venom's hand.  
"We have to go up!" He said.  
Venom wrapped him in a hug, and he hugged her just as tightly.  
Venom lept into the air, and felt the atmosphere change as the two of them glided through the ceiling, and opened her eyes to see that they were in front of a large set of doors with glass panes.  
"Come on." Plague said, tapping her back, before jogging towards it.  
Venom froze as she sniffed something on the air. "Plague, stop!" She yelled, but it was too late. Bobby had been walking through the corridor, when he saw the two of them come up through the floor. He watched them as they started towards the door, and shot Plague with a coating of ice, freezing a large box around the villian.  
Bobby took aim at Venom, but she was already half way through the air, her legs steeled for the impact of the door.  
Bobby shot the ice at her, coating her hand with ice, but that didn't stop her.  
In a blink of an eye, Venom was gone.

In the professor's office, the X-Men were gathered.  
Outside in the main part of the mansion, the sound of glass being swept up could be heard.  
Scott touched his arm tentatively.  
"So, what the hell just happened?" He asked the room.  
Bobby told them of what happened in Ivy's room, confiming what Jean thought would happen.  
Rogue cleared her throat. "So, we know what happened, what do we do next?" She drawled slowly.  
The professor surveyed the room, looking from face to face, stopping to watch Scott. "What do you think?" He asked, reaching for his glass of water, the ice cubes clinking as he lifted the glass to his mouth.  
Scott thought about it. "Well, we could try to get some answers from Plague again, but I don't think that's going to help. We need to find Ivy before Venom does, in fact, we should be looking for her too," he said. "She'll most likely come back for Plague, probably with reinforcements."  
Storm tapped her chin. "We could find out where the headquarters of the Diabolos is, and try to neutralize Venom there, then all we have to do is find Ivy." Storm stopped herself just as she was about to say, 'before it's too late.'  
The professor nodded. "Then that's what we'll do." He said. "I would suggest you get a plan in order. I'll go to Cerebro to see if I can locate either one of them."  
Logan swung his head so that he faced Storm, and gave her a look that said, 'See?'  
Storm rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "I'll go get Mac out of the danger room." She said. "Maybe we can ask him a few questions."  
Logan followed her to bug her about Cerebro.

Venom sat in a sleezy bar, nursing an Irish trash can, her mind running through thousands of different scenarios of how she was going to kill the X-Men, liberate Plague, and find Ivy.  
She took a sip, perhaps not in that order, though.  
An decrepit old woman came shuffling over to where Venom was at, and sat down at the bar.  
"You look lost, dearie." The old woman said, taking a sip of her drink. "Ahhh... That's good a ass, if I've ever had one."  
Venom sniffed the air and took another sip of her drink.  
"Where are you from?" The old lady asked politely, attempting conversation.  
"Bronx." Venom said in a perfect accent.  
The old woman put a finger in the air. "I had a cab driver that was from the Bronx." She said. "Nice fellow, he was."  
Venom took another sip, looked in her glass and signaled the bartender for another round.  
"Yep." She said, realizing that the old fart wasn't going to go away.  
"He was more polite than you." The old woman said, slurring slightly.  
Venom watched the old woman with mild interest. Was she having a stroke?  
"I'll buy you a drink." The old lady said, as the bartender approached. "Eight Barbie shots." She drummed her fingers, and turned to face Venom.  
"I'm Rita." She said.  
"Heather." Venom said, picking one of the most common names.  
The old lady squinted at her. "Funny, you don't look like a Heather." She said, as the drinks arrived.  
"I probably did as a baby." Venom said, tossing back the rest of her drink.  
"That must be it." Rita shrugged her bony shoulders.  
"Are you hungry?" Rita asked. "They have great hot wings here."  
Venom tasted the pink drink. It was better than she thought it would be.  
"I'm fine." She said. "In fact, I'm leaving soon."  
Rita's face fell. "That's too bad." She said. "I've enjoyed talking to you."  
Venom looked away from the old woman when she heard a scuffle break out at the other end of the bar.  
"Fuckin' mutant!" A burly man in a red plaid shirt spat loudly, shoving a dog faced man into the bar.  
A guy in a baseball hat smashed the beer glass that the mutant was drinking out of.  
"See? We have to do that because we couldn't get a real person to drink out of it, after you slobbered all over it." He said. "You contaminated it."  
Rita toddled over to the fray.  
"Now, now. You're not that different from each other." She said.  
The burly man turned slowly so that he was facing her, his mouth open.  
They heard a shattering as Venom's glass toppled from her fingertips.  
She threw back the rest of the Barbie shots, and let those glasses fall as well.  
"Oh, well." She said, cracking her knuckles. "You can't have mutant germs on the glassware, now can you?"  
Rita turned her head and gave Venom a stern look. "You shush up, and stay where it's safe young lady." She said firmly.  
Venom stood up. "You might want to get away from him." She told Rita, as she stretched her arms. She looked at the man. "What are you? one of the Asyrian Superior Service Executive Scum?" Venom tapped her chin. "I suppose that'd make you one of the many ASSES, then wouldn't it?"  
Rita glared at her. "What did I just say?" She snapped, before turning her attention back to the roughnecks.  
The bigger man pushed past her, and walked towards Venom.  
"Don't worry about me." Venom told her. "I've dealt with way worse than this hicks."  
Rita weaved her way in between the two, her arms out to the sides, trying to keep them apart.  
Rita swayed where she stood, like she might tip over at second's notice.  
She looked up at the man. "What would your mother think of the commotion that you're causing?" She asked in sheer disgust.  
The man picked her up and put her on the counter. "This has nothing to do with you or my mother." He said, before closing the distance in between him and Venom.  
"The hell it doesn't!" Rita growled, sliding off the counter with great difficulty, and pushed her way back in between them, just as the man was about to hit Venom.  
Rita pulled a nang sim move on the man by grabbing his scrotum through his pants and slapping it as hard as she could with her other hand.  
When the man fell to the floor, Rita pulled out a tiny automatic gun from her purse, and pointed it at him.  
"What the hell's wrong with you?" the second man demanded.  
"Get out of here!" Rita demanded of Venom, who looked at the woman, not understanding what was happening. She was used to being attacked and insulted, but not defended.  
But she knew the cops would be on their way, and she was wanted in the greater part of the New York state.  
Venom did what she had been doing since she had been abandoned by her family at the roadside when she was nine.  
She ran.

Plague tapped the plexiglass of his prison.  
It was running on a back up generator, but just in case it stalled, Bobby was there, ready to freeze him again.  
"Hey, Furball!" He said to Beast. "How long are you planning to keep me here?" Plague stomped a bit. He could feel a rattle start in his chest. If he didn't get out soon, he'd probably die.  
"If you want out, I suggest you tell us what we want to know." Beast told him.  
Plague rolled his tongue around his mouth, and nodded. "You guys are so self-righteous, aren't you?" he asked with a snort. "You're here to help those mutants in need, but you have no qualms about kidnapping, murder or torture. At least I never pretended I was full of good will, just cut others down, or use people for my own purposes."  
Beast pounded the side of the glass twice.  
"What ever needs to be done." He said, trying to be menacing.  
"What ever need to be done." Plague repeated. "That's sounds eeriely similar to what armies have said in the past. 'We'll slaughter thousands of people, our own and yours. It's for the greater good, after all." Plague put his face right against the glass. "You and I are on different sides, we believe different things. Tell me Beast, do you even see me as human? Can you imagine me going to see a movie, eating in a resturant? You can't, can you? You need to believe I'm evil, otherwise what would that make you, huh? Let's face it, we're both the bad guy."  
Beast put his face very close to the glass. "And that's exactly what a bad guy would said." He returned. "And for the record, I can see you as human."  
"Then is it going to bother you when I die of hypothermia?" Plague said in a low voice. "You want me to give up my friends, my collegues. What would you do? Be weak and serve them all up on a silver platter, or would you realize that the enemy was going to kill you no matter what?"  
"It would seem I've chosen my friends and collegues better than you have." Beast responded. "Nobody here said that they were going to kill you."  
Plague rubbed his nose on his wrist. "You've chosen a cripple who uses you all like flunkies. If one of you dies, do you think he's going to cry, and mourn you? No, he's going to go out and find someone new to replace you. You have friends here because it's necessary to have friends among those you fight with. Who wants to die among strangers?" He slid down the glass, wrapping his arms around himself. "Nobody has to say their going to kill me. You're already doing it."  
Beast took a deep breath. "Just tell us what we need to know, and-" Plague roughly shoved himself from the floor of his cage, and slammed his fist into the glass, shaking it.  
"How is it you're not getting this?" Plague shouted, his breath fogging the glass.  
"Promising me freedom, while slowly killing me, doesn't exactly prove to me that you're on the up and up." Plague snorted. "Isn't it funny... That you are the very thing you swear you hate? But, that's okay, right? Because you're the good guys..."  
Beast turned and nodded to a mutant at the controls, who turned down the dial three clicks.  
Icy cold air filtered down on to Plague. It was so cold, he could see it.  
Plague began to laugh humourlessly before sliding down the glass again, his breath a foggy mist. He turned his head to where he guess Beast was. He couldn't see any more through his goggles because of the ice layered on them.  
"You're proving me more right each passing second." He said, his voice becoming hoarse. "Let me tell you about that darling little girl. She used to kill people like you for sport." Plague's breath was starting to come out in short, rough bursts. "The Diabolos wanted her because they could sense her power. Hah! They actually think she can control it, but she's a time-bomb. And right about now, I think she's 'bout ready to blow." Plague gave Beast a frosty smile. "Too bad she didn't stay here for the count down."  
Beast stepped over to the control panel, and pushed the temperature back to seventy-eight degrees, and hit the button that pumped in a speciality mix of gas that Angel accidently made, which knock out an entire class room.  
The young apprentice looked at Beast quizzically. "But he didn't really tell us anything..." She protested.  
But Beast was alread half-way to the door.

Scott pressed his thumb into his front teeth as he looked over the maps spread before him.  
He barely glanced up when Jean sneezed.  
"Bless you." He murmured automatically.  
"You want to cover your mouth next time?" Logan asked her.  
Jean wiped her nose on her handkerchief. "I tried." She said.  
Without much warning, the professor wheeled into the war room.  
He looked at all of them, stopping on Jean. "I looked over the file that you made on Mac," he said. "I agree, Mac isn't like anything I've ever seen before..."  
Scott didn't ask. He had better things to worry about.  
"Were you able to get a lock on Ivy?" He asked the professor.  
The professor lowered his head slightly. "Unfortunately not." He raised his head, and shook it. "This has never happened before."  
Logan smirked. "Don't sweat it, professor, you're at that age when it can't always come when you want it to." He crossed his arms. "Apparently, that's pretty common. I'll just have to take the doctor's word for it, because I've never had that problem myself." He sniffed.  
Scott looked at Logan. "Seriously?" He said incredulously. "At a moment when we're up a creek, you have to make jokes like that?"  
Logan raised an eyebrow. "What? Am I hitting a little too close to home?" He looked at Jean and grinned. "I'm right, aren't I?"  
Scott had enough, and caught Logan's chin with a mean right hook, causing Logan to stumble a bit, all traces of humour gone.  
Logan's eyes sparkled with excitement as he retaliated by kicking Scott's legs out from under him.  
An invisible force swept Logan to the floor as well, and pinned him there.  
"Enough!" Jean said, her hands in the air.  
"We're on a time line. So, I want you two to grow up for the rest of this week, and be good little boys before we all get wiped off the face of this planet."  
She allowed the men to get up, but not before applying enough pressure to show them who was really running the show.

Venom had few true allies among the divided Diabolos, but she knew of at least two who she could count on for joining her, merely for the amount of bloodshed that was guaranteed.  
Venom sat across the table from the twins, Siren and Electra, and felt each second slip away.  
"So what exactly do you expect us to do?" Electra asked, making a little ball of electricity in between her hands.  
Venom pulled a napkin out of her pocket, and spread it on the table.  
It was a diagram displaying the school weakest points, and her attack plan.  
"If you two attack here and here, it will cause enough chaos for me to slip in here. Once I free Plague, you two can do whatever you want. Kill freely." She said dispassionately.  
Siren crossed her arms and cocked her head. "What's in it for us?" She demanded sweetly.  
Venom looked into Siren's face, her eyes pure ice.  
"There is millions of dollars worth of metal, weapons and other equipment that you guys can take. Scrap it or hock it, I don't care. I just thought you two would be up for a little hell raising."  
Electra scoffed.  
"We were hoping for something more... substantial." Siren gestured her left hand in the air.  
"It really doesn't get much more substantial than weapons and metal, girls." Venom said. They were wasting her time! Plague might already be dead.  
"Your allegiance is what we want. It's that or nothing." They said together in the same flat tone.  
Venom narrowed her eyes. She never gave that freely. "In what?" She asked in a voice that told them they were walking a thin line.  
"Either you agree to our terms, or else you can find someone else to help you out on you little 'quest'."  
Venom took a deep breath, and stuck out her hand.  
"First, you help me, then I will pledge what ever the hell you want." She told them in a firm voice.  
Siren took her hand, and grinned creepily.  
"Agreed."

After a few alterations to Cerebro, the professor focused as hard as he possibly could on Ivy's brain waves.  
His mind was bombarded with image after image, until he came across a fractured one.  
The professor's eyes popped open.

Scott glanced at Jean.  
He walked over to her. "Why do you always take his side?" He asked in a loud whisper.  
Jean didn't get what he was talking about at first.  
"What? Oh. I wasn't taking anyone's side." She said. "I treated you both the same. Don't be an ass, Scott."  
Scott was just about to say something, when Beast and Rogue strode towards them.  
"We have to find another way to hold Plague." Beast said. "If we continue what we're doing, he'll die."  
Rogue looked serious. "I like turtles." She told them.  
Beast patted her head. "Yes, Rogue, we know." He said, before turning his attention back to the others.  
Scott frowned. "Well, why don't we just let him go now? Ivy's gone, there's no reason for him to keep attacking the school." He said. Except for vengance, his mind put in.  
"Right, but if he finds Ivy before we do? That could put a crimp in things, don't you think?" Beast asked, scratching his neck.  
"You said he told you that Ivy was a time bomb... Why would he want to go near her then?" Jean asked. Beast gave her a look. "Plague isn't exactly on our team. He could be lying to us, partially or in whole. He could be telling the truth, and be fully able to diffuse the situation arising." He sighed. "We just don't know, do we, Jean? We just don't know." Beast took a few steps to his left, and leaned uncomfortably against the cold wall, watching the group's reaction to his observations.  
Jean rubbed her chin, her cheeks turning pink. "Plague believed he was going to die. Why would he lie about it?" She asked validly, "And, even if he could diffuse the situation, why wouldn't he offer his ability to us in lieu of his life?"  
Beast thought for a moment. "Jean, he likely wouldn't help anyone who wasn't on his side, deathbed or no. Of course he was going to try to make us believe his words, he wants things to work out for him. That doesn't make any of what he said true." Beast put a finger in the air as Jean opened her mouth to speak. "And knowing who we are, and what we do, he almost certainly knows fully well that we'd never really let him die." Beast put his finger down, and gestured for her to go ahead and speak.  
Rogue looked at Beast, her dark eyes sparkling in the dim light of the corridor. "I think Jean is right, here." She drawled, as she fiddled with her hands. "He really did seem to believe that he was going to die."  
Beast threw his arms up in the air, and began walking away from the women. "We're done here." He called back at them without looking back.

The sun was setting, the air was cool and crisp. For such a beautiful setting, the scene about to unfold was a harsh contrast.  
Ivy slowly walked through Times Square, gazing around at all the people. She noticed a young woman walking a golden retriever, a small girl dressed in white walking at her side. Ivy continued on, to the precise center of Times Square, attracting rather little attention. She stood there for what seemed a very long time, until the sky was dark and the stars sparkled in the sky above.  
She felt power surge throughout her body, a soft glow surrounding her. A group of teenagers shuffling by in overly large sweaters and loose jeans down to their knees came close by, hollering and swearing. One of them pointed at Ivy's glowing form. "Ooh, hey! I think this stuff is kicking in." He slurred, as he took a puff on his crack pipe. One of the other boys punched him in the arm. "No man, I see it, too." He said clearly, being one of the few sober ones in the horde. Ivy turned to face them, walking towards them. She reached out, touching a blonde boy's backpack strap, singing it lightly. "Hey, fuck off!" He swore aggressively, moving away from her.  
Ivy turned slowly away, walking back to the center of the square. The group of boys were glued to the spot, with the exception of two who were too unnerved to stay and watch whatever spectacle was to unfold.  
Ivy watched them through closed eyes, concentrating on their energies. Then, all of a sudden, there was a strike of electricity connecting her to the teens.  
Cries of sheer pain could be heard as far as four blocks away, causing the square's nearest visitors to panic and run. Ivy connected each and every person and animal within her range to herself with a cord of electricity. Within two minutes, 85% of the people in Times Square were dead. All of their life energies had been sucked from their bodies in the most excruciating way possible. Ivy's powers grew a hundredfold.

Meanwhile, as the professor continued to search for new information regarding Ivy, the x-men headed out to the switch-blade plane.  
Storm had told them that there was a massive disturbance in the middle of New York.  
Just as they were boarding the plane, the professor wheeled out as fast as he could before they could leave.  
"It's Ivy." He said breathlessly. "She's electricuting people in Times Square. There's only one thing you can do to stop her."

Storm adjusted their flight path, setting a direct course to Times Square. Rogue peered out of the window to her left. "Hey, fireworks..." She said, pointing off in the distance. "...Those aren't fireworks." Scott said ominously, as he looked where she was pointing. Rogue frowned. "What is it then?" She asked. "Looks like fireworks to me. What do you think?" She asked Jean, turning to face her. "It's electricity." Jean answered simply. "It's coming from Times Square." Rogue bit her lip. "Well, I wasn't let in on all of this, so why don't you explain all this to me?" Storm began to lower the plane. "There's no time." She told Rogue, who tossed her hair back over her shoulders. As she tied her hair back with a simple black ribbon, she clicked her tongue. "Nobody ever tells me anything 'round here..." She muttered to herself.

The plane touched ground with a bump, tossing it's passengers about. As soon as the plane came to a sudden halt, Beast, Logan and Jean were all ready to depart. Rogue, who had fallen to the floor during the landing, picked herself up and joined the others. Storm turned the plane's ignition off, picked up her jacket and met the other x-men outside. The sky was unnaturally bright, and Times Square nearly blinded them. They could barely make anything in the square out at all. Rogue reached into her bag, and began to toss heavy duty sunglasses to each of her team members. "Here!" She called out, after Logan failed to catch his pair. Jean smiled at Rogue. "Good thinking." She complimented her as she put her pair on. "Thanks, but it was Bobby's idea." She admitted.  
"Do we all know what we're supposed to do?" Scott said, surveying the wreckage. Everyone nodded solemnly before going to their respective vantage points. "Let's do this." Logan said out loud to nobody in particular, before unsheathing his claws. The light grew even stronger, the electricity heating the air around them. A mixture of smoke, sweat and fear filled the air. With the exception of the electricity humming, there was only silence.  
The usual noisy traffic had quelled, the only people and animals nearby were dead, and even the talking traffic lights had been knocked out.

Meanwhile, back at the school, three shadowy figures leapt down from the wall at the edge of the property. Mac, still cooped up in the danger room, all but forgotten, sensed something dangerous nearby. He was highly sensitive, and almost never wrong. He knew that something big was about to take place, something that would be difficult to defend himself against.  
He heard footsteps in the hall. Realising that it was merely the guard, he began to thump on the door in an attempt to get his attention. "Oi, you!" He yelled forcefully, trying not to sound too threatening. The mutant just shook his head, and ignored Mac. "Come on, mate!" Mac shouted, "We're all in danger." His cry went unheeded. Mac stood up straight, "Enough of this shite..." He said, before breaking the door down with little effort. He didn't like using all of his strength, because of the sheer effort needed to release it. But he doubted that he would survive the incoming attackers locked up. The mutant guard, alone on his post, fled. Mac grinned. "Ha!" He laughed, wheezing from the force he had used to free himself. After resting a moment to recover, he began searching for a way out of the school.  
As he went down a particularly bright hallway, and entered the main gallery, three individuals rushed at him. Mac snarled, preparing to defend himself.  
"Just let me pass and there won't be any trouble." He told them in a low voice, his eyes boring through them.  
Venom was suddenly right in front of him. She grabbed his throat roughly, slamming him up against the wall. Mac choked, a bead of saliva trickling down from the corner of his mouth.  
He tried to kick her, his claws grazing her knee sharply. Alas, only a knick. "You traitor!." She growled, lifting his struggling body off of the ground. "You think I didn't notice when you came in?" She asked patronisingly.  
Mac glared fiercely at Venom and her two companions. He didn't show any fear, remaining as stubborn as he had always been. Venom slammed him against the wall again, before throwing his weight across the gallery.  
Mac landed on the floor with a heavy thud, still concious. He chuckled softly. "You never were the forgiving type were you, Venny?" Mac got to his feet. "Not that it matters any longer, there's no way you can repair what I've damaged." He walked gingerly over to her. "Don't you understand? It needed to be done. I'm better than you, in that I could see that and was strong enough to carry things out." He spat on the floor, blood coating his mouth.  
Venom glared at him, before backhanding him acoss the face, her long fingernails cutting his skin easily. Mac winced, feeling a bitter sting of poison entering his system. "Do what you will, it will reverse nothing." He stated roughly, his cheek swelling. Venom wasn't listening, she had already left to continue her search for Plague.  
Mac watched her walk away. He'd never seen her show a shred of emotion over anyone before, but knew that she cared deeply for Plague. "I could help you, you know." He called out loudly, his voice echoing pleasantly. She ignored him. "Plague, is it?" He asked. "Your friend? The one that is being held hostage." Mac turned to leave.  
"Oh, well. I don't suppose it's really that important anyways..." He began walking swiftly away, his hands in his vest pockets.  
Venom hurried on her way, sniffing for Plague's scent. Mac shook his head in disappointment. He had hoped for a better outcome than this. He had certainly not expected to be let go so easily.

The sky was brighter than ever, and even through the specially made sunglasses, the x-men's eyes hurt to look at the square.  
Try as she may, Jean couldn't immobilize Ivy.  
Which was a little bit of a problem, seeing as how no one could get near her otherwise.  
"Plan B, guys." She told them over her ear piece.  
Scott looked around him at the warped kiosks, and totalled vehicles surrounding the area.  
"Great." He muttered.  
Storm moved so she could see Rogue better.  
Beast and Logan dodged around the cars, while Scott climbed up on a half melted news paper stand.  
"Ivy!" Logan shouted from behind her.  
As she turned to see who was still alive, her body began to levitate, ribbons of particals and light swirled around her, breaking away, and then reforming around her.  
Logan could see that since he last saw her, she had more than doubled in her height, the energy was forcing her body to mature at a sporadic rate, her shift had been badly burned, and torn by the electricity and the strain of her larger body, so that she was barely covered.  
"Ivy!" He shouted again, cupping his hands to his mouth.  
"Ivy is no more." A deep resonating voice issued from her. "I am the Destroyer."  
Rogue crept closer to the Destroyer, shielded by both Storm and Jean from the electricity.  
A loud crackling filled the air, a noxious smoke rising around them. A nearby building had imploded into nothingness. The Destroyer giggled deeply, as another nearby building disintegrated.  
She then turned to peer at Storm, ready to anihilate her next.  
Throughout the next few seconds, Jean sent a telepathic message to the other x-men, telling them of a plan that just might save Storm's life.  
Suddenly, Beast bellowed ferally, loud enough to catch The Destroyer's attention long enough for Logan to throw a large brick at her.  
Then, Scott used his laser vision, which seemed to entrance her. She clapped her hands at this, causing visable sound waves to echo throughout the square.  
Storm deftly took cover by Rogue.  
"That was too close, you've got to be more careful." Rogue told her in a caring tone.  
"Then what do you suggest? It looks like we're running out of options." Storm said sharply.  
Rogue shrugged, "I don't know... Just be careful, all right? Nobody wants to see you get killed."  
She looked at the ground. "We need you."

The institute was at war. As Siren and Electra ran rampant through the halls, Venom was trying to wake Plague. Considering that all of the important x-men were already at work away from the school, things looked grim.  
The professor wheeled as quickly as he could through a vacant hallway. "Damn it!" He puffed, "Why did my chair's motor die last week, and why did I procrastinate about affixing a new one?"  
A drop of sweat made it's itchy way down the back of his neck. Sweat burned his eyes, but he couldn't take the time to wipe it away. He was at a disatvantage, being crippled and single minded. "Oh, Cerebro, why can't you fix everything?" He cried, his hands in the air for a moment.  
Siren heard the plaintive cry, and headed towards it, her thirst for blood growing strongly.  
She ran heavily, misjudging the location of the sound, luckily for the professor. By the time she located where the noise had emanated from, he had already wheeled away a good two mintutes previously. Siren's violence clouded not only her judgement, but her thoughts in general. She became a fool once angered, which is why her sister usually accompanied her to battle.

Venom finally spotted Plague, as her eyes began to unintentionally tear up. She felt the old, familiar rage build up inside her. Plague was unconcious, trapped inside the chilled plexiglass prison.  
He was very pale, and would obviously be weak upon waking. If he ever did wake.  
Acidic poison dripped from her claws, as she strode over, her boots clicking on the stone floor.  
Venom swiped a wide circle into the plastic, melting it. The plastic dripped and oozed down to the floor, steaming dangerously.  
Quickly, Venom pulled Plague out of the cage, shaking him gently. "Plague!" She said urgently, before looking over her shoulder, then softly continued. "Joseph..." His flesh was cold to the touch. Too cold. His heart still beat, though it had slowed considerably. His body wouldn't have survived even fifteen more minutes.  
She took her jean jacket off, swaddling him in it, shaking him more fervently. "You have to wake up." She demanded. She blinked back the tears. "I need you." Footsteps approached, though for the first time in decades, Venom was utterly oblivious to her surroundings. "You never could say 'I love you', could you?" Plague's weak voice asked humourously. Venom sighed with relief. "Come on, we've got to leave..." She said, pulling him up, before she gingerly placed him on her shoulder. "Well, isn't this just adorable?" Asked Siren, her hands on her hips, her short, frilly skirt waving slightly on the draft coming through the hallway to the infirmary.

The professor reached a little used room with very high security. His bedroom. He would be safe enough to be able to concentrate fully on saving the children. With 700 children in his care, he needed to put every bit of strength he had into this task. Failure was not an option.  
He shifted his weight, sitting more flatly, then concentrated to the best of his ability. He successfully located Venom, and began to slowly infiltrate her mind. This was no easy feat, as Venon fought him hard, throwing him out once before he was fully in control. A brief stab of pain emanating from the professor's left eye. An eyelash made it's way to the back of his eyeball, as he rubbed at it. "Rahhhh!" He grunted in unpleasant surprise, causing him to force Venom to do the same. Plague slid from her arms down to the cold floor. Siren rolled her eyes, "What's up with you, Venny?" She asked as she walked over, her generous bosom bouncing gratuitously.  
Plague shuddered violently as he fought to bring himself to his feet. "Oops." Siren giggled, fixing her low cut dress. "Nipple!" She glanced at him, blowing a bubble with her gum. "So, you're okay then?" She asked in a bored tone.  
Plague glanced up at Venom, who was standing unusually stiffly. "You must stop all of this. Now." Venom said strangely. Her voice sounded the same, yet it was completely different. For starters, she never had enunciated properly, with the exception of the seven words she had just spoken.  
"You need to leave Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters, and you need to leave now." She stated firmly, turning to stare intensely at Siren.  
Siren crossed her arms. "Stop screwing around. You're not funny, you never were." She said snidely.  
Plague managed to get to his feet, but he was shivering so badly that he looked like he might fall down at any moment.  
Siren came over to him, and helped to prop him up.  
Plague tried to pull away, but his legs wouldn't make such a complicated move.  
He stared at Venom's face. "Who are you?" He demanded. He realized that she was no longer in control of herself. Someone had invaded her mind.

Rogue was almost to the Destroyer, when a fire hydrant exploded right beside her.  
Water warmed by the electricity, rained down on her as she screamed, as she was slightly eletrocuted when the water hit her bare skin. They were lucky to have heavily insulated suits and boots that help prevent them from severe burns and even death.  
"Rogue," Scott said through the com system, after witnessing her near miss. "You're going to have to pick up the pace."  
"Ya think!?" She shouted through panicked laughter.  
The Destroyer was getting impatient at the antics of the three men.  
She turned her head, looking at the buildings across from her.  
As her gaze fell on each one, it crumbled into nothingness, the whole block was leveled in matter of moments.  
Rogue saw that time was thinner than they had thought, and made a leap towards the destroyer, and latched onto her ankle.  
The Destroyer at first tried to kick Rogue away from her, but soon grew weak, as her powers diminished rapidly.  
As her powers left, she returned to her child form.  
Ivy collapsed on Rogue, her fair, freckled skin paler than ever as she dangerously cold.  
Jean looked around them at the havoc that Ivy wrought on the square.  
Buildings on both side of Times Square had been leveled.  
The iconic signs and building were damaged beyond repair, and the rubble lay strewn along side the numerous corpses, and strips of twisted metal pared from cars and lamp posts, lay like ribbons a small child discarded after their appeal waned and faded into nothingness.  
Scott glanced at them all. "Everyone's okay?" He asked, trying to push the senseless violence out of his mind.  
"Beast's down." Storm said sharply, walking briskly towards where Beast was laying prone.  
Scott followed, as Jean knelt beside Rogue and Ivy. She put her hand on Rogue's shoulder.  
"How are you?" She asked, her eyes appraising any damage done to the younger woman.  
Rogue groaned slightly. "Never better." She muttered. She seemed to be a bit out of it, her eyes sliding in and out of focus.  
Jean presumed that rogue was badly concussed.  
"Stay put for now," Jean told her. "Logan will help you into the plane. I'll be right back, I'm just going to take Ivy to the plane, alright?"  
She scooped the little girl up in her arms, and walked back to the plane.  
Jean barely noticed the weight in her arms, as she gazed into Ivy's face, noting the light bruising under the child's eyes.  
Jean's heart went out to her. She had wanted children for so long, but Scott had put up a valid argument that any child of their's would be put through hell. So, until things became more forgiving, more equal for mutants, they wouldn't have kids.  
Jean laid Ivy down on the bench seat, making sure to buckle the small child in securely.

Storm and Scott got a stetcher from the plane, because Beast was too awkward to carry just by hand.  
Meanwhile, Logan picked Rogue up gingerly, careful not to cause more damage her more than she already was.  
Rogue's long hair was caught between her shoulder and Logan's chest.  
As he carried her, Rogue moved to free her long locks, as she brushed it over her shoulder, the back of her hand grazed his throat.  
Logan jerked in surprise, stopping, and Rogue look at him, worried that she had done damage to him yet again.  
But-, but nothing happened.  
They looked at each other, and tenatively, Rogue gently touched one rough cheek on Logan's face.  
Nothing happen, except the stress caused Logan's breath to quicken and his pulse to pick up.  
They stared into each other's eyes.  
Logan cleared his throat, and continued walking towards the plane, where the others were waiting.  
He placed her in one of the seats, and Rogue took her chance.  
She placed her hands on either side of his head and pulled his face to her own, her fevered lips finding his.  
Logan was shocked, but intrigued. He kissed her back.  
Scott raised his eyebrows.  
One by one, the rest of the X-men looked away from their passionate embrace.

Spirits were high when the x-men returned to the school, but they fell quickly when they saw the damage that the twins and Venom wrought.  
Immediately, they went on full alert.  
Crashes echoed faintly through the hallways.  
Scott pointed towards the professor's office, before jogging to it.

Electra picked up another scalpel out of the tray that Siren took from the infirmary.  
She aimed well, and threw it at the cowering ten year old, embedding it deeply into the sole of the child's sneaker.  
"So, Venom lost it." She said conversationally to her sister, after the kid stopped screaming.  
"Looks like it." Siren replied, throwing another scalpel at the child, slicing a couple of hairs off his head. The boy whimpered.  
"So you locked them in the hospital-thingy, then?" Electra asked, picking up another.  
Siren weighed a hypo in her hand, and threw it hard at the child, pinning his hand by the fold in between his thumb and forefinger, to the wall. The boy screamed in pain and shock, as blood dripped from his hand onto the floor.  
"Yep." Siren answered as the office doors flew open.  
As the x-men battled the twins, Jean sensed the professor close by.  
She ducked out of the room, and saw Venom staggering up the lobby.  
Jean paused not sure what to make of what she saw.  
The professor was too weak to hold onto Venom's mind any longer, and released his hold, before slipping into unconsiousness.  
Venom stumbled, going to her knees, as her sense flooded back to her.  
She looked up, panting, and grinned predatorally at Jean, before taking a flying leap at the other woman.  
Something built like a truck slammed to Venom, mid-flight, taking her down, hard.  
Venom's malicious grin transformed into a snarl, as she growled like a feral animal at Logan.  
She smashed her knee into his groin, stunning him for a couple seconds, before she rolled on top of him, hissing and spraying him with toxic spit.  
Logan slammed his arm into her throat, and got his leg up around and kicked her in the stomach, flipping her off of him.  
Logan felt Venom's rib snap in two, as she fell back from him.  
Logan staggered to his feet, kicked Venom in the sternum.  
She sank her claws into his legs, flexing her fingers slightly, pumping poison into his blood stream.  
Logan yelled out in pain, before picking her up and slamming her against the wall, pinning her there.  
Logan unsheathed his claws, and sank them deep into her side and into the wall.  
Venom gasped, trying to fight his other hand off of her shoulder, holding her still.  
With a sudden movement of her feet, Venom threw Logan's balance off. She turned her head quickly, and sank her teeth into his throat, blood filling her mouth.  
Logan grabbed a hand full of Venom's orange hair, and tried to pull her off of him, but she only tightened her jaw, ripping the hole wider.  
Logan pulled back with free hand, as blood frothed from his mouth and nose, and skewered Venom's back, aiming for her heart.  
Her mouth went slack, releasing her hold on him, the dead weight of her body, resting on his claws.  
Venom's body sagged unnaturally, her face no longer ruined by rage, but showing a peacefulness she never knew.  
Logan retracted his claws, and fell to the floor a moment after Venom's body hit, laying pressed against the wall.

Electra watched her sister be defeated, before realizing that they were no match for these guys.  
Making sure that Siren was still awake, Electra nodded to her sister.  
In a split second, both of them turn blue, before disappearing from the school completely and utterly.  
"What the hell just happened?" Scott asked.  
Jean suddenly remembered Logan out in the hall.  
She ran out to find Logan on the floor, struggling to breath, as his body fought to repair the damage done to his throat and fight off the poison that Venom had piped into his system.  
"I need help out here!" Jean shouted, ascessing his wounds, as she knelt beside him.  
Venom lay still in her spot against the wall, and Jean truly doubted that the woman would leave that place on her own volition.  
With the others help, Logan was carried to the destroyed infirmary and patched up until his body caught up with the ruination that Venom had wrought on him.  
A while later, Storm was walking through the totalled lobby, and noticed that Venom's body was no longer there, leaving behind a large stain of oxidized blood that spread from the wall to a large part of the floor, before leaving a trail towards the open door and out into the rain.  
Storm didn't move as she wondered when they would come across those two mutants again, and how hard would they have to fight to keep the two person wrecking crew at bay.

Logan's eyes brighten as he sat up, tearing the bandages off, nearly fully healed.  
He was dizzy, but he'd manage.  
His ears perked up at a sound, it was kind of a whirring sound.  
"Does anybody else hear that?" He asked, hopping off the table.

Rogue was at the library window, watching the rain come down, when she saw what looked like a royal blue shed appear out of nowhere, accompanied by a strange whirring sound, that came and went intermittently.  
She sat up straighter, and stared at it, but it was soon gone as quick as it came.  
"What the hell?" She whispered.  
She shook her head and went back to reading.  
It was probably just a figment of her over worked mind.

The end


End file.
